At 2,240 metres, Mexico City's rooftops start with an altitude advantage — as will your mezcal, so pace the first round. Terraza Catedral overlooks the Zócalo's vast floodlit square for the price of a beer, while the roofs of Roma Norte and Condesa do craft cocktails above jacaranda-lined streets. Time it for the late-afternoon light after the (reliable, brief) summer rain clears; the volcanoes occasionally photobomb the horizon.
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The world's-best lists have developed a habit of putting Mexico City at the very top. Handshake Speakeasy took the number-one spot with crystal-clear cocktails that taste like quiet sorcery, and the bars of Roma Norte and Juárez — Licorería Limantour chief among them — built the scene it now crowns. The house material is agave: order a mezcal negroni and accept the orange slice with sal de gusano. Book Handshake weeks ahead; walk-ins join a philosophical queue.
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